Guide
How much gravel do I need?
Gravel is measured in cubic yards and often sold by the ton. Here is how to go from one to the other.
The calculation
- Cubic feet = area in square feet × depth in inches ÷ 12.
- Cubic yards = cubic feet ÷ 27.
- Tons = cubic yards × the weight of a cubic yard. For common gravel at 1.6 t/m³, that is about 1.35 tons per cubic yard.
Example
A path of 3 × 40 ft is 120 sq ft. At 2 in deep: 20 cu ft, 0.74 cu yd, about 1 ton. In 0.5 cu ft bags, that is 40 bags.
Depth
About 2 in for a decorative path, more for a driveway, which also needs a crushed stone base underneath. River rock, decomposed granite and crushed stone each weigh a little differently: ask your yard for its figure.
Truckloads
A truck is full when its bed or its payload is, whichever comes first. Gravel is heavy: a truck rated for 14 tons carries about 10 cu yd of it, even if its bed holds more.
With Landscaping Calc
The app shows the cubic yards, tons, bags, big bags and truckloads of each line, with densities and truck sizes you can change. See Gravel calculator.
